On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the famous sailing race, the Jacques Vabre transatlantic race, spotlight on one of the best-known French coffee brands.
In 1970, Jacques Vabre became the first coffee brand in France to advertise on television. The character of El Gringo was quickly born, who traveled through different countries in search of the best coffee beans. Parodied by Idiotsthen deemed obsolete, the character finally disappears.
The brand has its origins in Montpellier, in 1926, with a small trading business. The founder’s son-in-law, a certain Jacques Vabre, decided to give it his name in 1968. “Beyond television advertising, the brand becomes the first to offer vacuum-ground coffee, and to sell so-called original coffees,” explains its marketing director Marc Dujardin.
The fame of the Transat Jacques Vabre
Today, the brand holds a special place within the JDE group, leader in the sale of coffees in medium and large stores, with 1.2 billion euros in turnover. Jacques Vabre owes his notoriety largely to the sailing race, the Transat which bears his name, co-created in 1993, and which is therefore celebrating its 30th anniversary. “It’s the coffee route, it’s the route taken at the time by merchant sailboats,” explains Marc Dujardin.
Environmental objectives
The brand is now displaying its environmental ambitions. “We want to have 100% of our coffees responsibly sourced in 2025, compared to 77% today, and 100% of our packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2030, compared to 88% currently,” explains the marketing director. Work is also being done with producers, increasing in the coming years from 500,000 coffee growers supported to one million.